Brian Cox knows a thing or three about complicated family dynamics and he has a few choice words for the British monarchy.
In a recent interview with Haute Living to discuss the fourth and final season of Succession, the 76-year-old Scottish actor also shared his thoughts on the royals and his take on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepping down from their roles. “I find that it’s really just so sad that we don’t acknowledge our own humanity enough,” he told the magazine. “We don’t acknowledge what we’ve been through on behalf of a family—a ruling family. When you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry, you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about.’ And with her, too.”
“But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off,” Cox continued. The actor went on to claim that the Duchess of Sussex “knew what she was getting into” and had “ambition” to fulfill her “childhood dreams” of marrying a prince.
Channeling the brashness of his on-screen character, Logan Roy, Cox is used to pulling absolutely no punches in his interviews. He even publicly came down on Succession co-star Jeremy Strong for his Method acting—which he personally finds “fucking annoying.” When giving his thoughts on the monarchy, he suggested that the model of government is outdated and should be abolished. “In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy. It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s tradition and all that, they say. I say, fuck it! Move on!”
This is not the first time that Cox has spoken candidly about the couple, either. When talking with Good Morning Britain back in December, around the same time their Netflix docuseries premiered, he openly defended the Duke and Duchess and acknowledged the hardship they’ve both experienced as members of the royal family.
“I don’t know what went on, but something clearly traumatic went on for the pair of them,” he explained. “I don’t think they made it up, I don’t think it’s false. I think it’s true and should’ve been rectified, and it hasn’t.”
